"The administration really reached out, and there are gay and lesbian people here from all over the country. It's a really positive first step, and hopefully there are even better things to come," she said.

Gay families were never invited by the Bush administration, but 100 couples and their kids crashed the celebration in 2006 to make a point.

The new-style eggfest got off to a slightly scrambled start when the commander in chief's microphone failed to work, and the thousands of people on the South Lawn of the White House were treated to Obama speaking into a giant Easter bunny's ear.

But the mike worked for the President's 10-year-old daughter when she tried.

"That's Malia, our technical adviser," quipped the First Daddy.

The Easter egg roll - where kids use wooden spoons to push hard-boiled eggs across a short race course - dates to the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878. And while the kids on the course used plenty of real eggs, the wooden souvenirs to be taken home were packed in less paper and no plastic, making them "green."

The First Family also hoped to push a larger point in between performances by the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie and the egg races - that being that kids should eat healthy and be active.